Changing Everything
by poeticgrace
Summary: An accident leaves Vince seeing everything clearly for the first time in his life, including his best friend. Vince/Eric.
1. Chapter 1

Twenty-five years ago was a long time to know and love someone. If Eric Murphy was a woman, Vincent Chase would have married him years ago. They would probably have a house full of Catholic babies with reddish curls and pale blue eyes and pillowy lips. He'd often considered what life would have been like if he'd found the female version of his best friend; it would have probably been the most perfect relationship he ever found. Instead, he had to find all of those things in a mouthy Irish Catholic street kid from Queens who could meet him shot for shot and preferred to fall in love with every skirt he slept with rather than look at his best friend twice. Not that Vince was complaining, he had a love for the birds, too. He just appreciated the most important relationship he'd ever had in his life, the one true thing he had always been able to count on.

That kind of trust was what sent him running across a bustling set early one Wednesday morning, a month into his latest film shoot. They were deep in the wilderness of northern Canada, shooting some movie about an epic dog sledding race gone wrong. E had actually found the script buried in the middle of a huge file Lloyd had sent over from Ari's office. It was the first time over the past few years that Eric hadn't been there every single day while Vince was on set. He'd had to fly back to LA on the red eye last night for an important meeting to negotiate Vince's next big contract. It was just eighteen hours and then he would be right back by his best friend's side.

Turtle had come to him as soon as Vince's private cell phone rang, the so-called bat phone that only the guys and Vince's family could reach. His face was pale as he stepped onto the set, not caring an ounce if he ruined the shot. The director started screaming at him in a thick French accent, but Turtle couldn't even hear him. He only handed over the phone with shaking hands, words failing to come as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. Vince glanced down at the phone and saw his best friend's name on the screen.. _What could he have said to get Turtle this upset_, he wondered as he took the tiny silver device. Turning away from his beautiful co-star for some privacy, he managed to cradle the phone despite the thickness of the down parka that was barely keeping him warm.

"Yeah, E, what is it?"

"Vincent, this isn't Eric," an older woman told him on the other end of the line. He recognized the voice immediately. It sent shivers down his spine to hear Eric's mother, clearly upset, calling him from Eric's phone. "There's been an accident."

Vince didn't say anything else as he took off running, Drama and Turtle right on his heels as he headed for the car. With his cell phone pressed to his ear as he sprinted as quickly as his legs could take him, he listened while Eric's mom told him about the accident Eric had on the 105 on his way from LAX to the meeting. It was bad, really bad, and he still hadn't regained consciousness hours later. He could barely hear Drama calling the set back to explain as Turtle navigated his way to the scenic airport on the edge of the small town where they had been staying. Ice covered the roads, not even beginning to melt as the morning sun peaked over the horizon, but Turtle managed to keep the SUV on the road.

"I'm on my way to you," he promised Eric's mom. Turtle found his way to the airport parking lot, throwing the car into park before it was even to a rest. Eric's mother's soft sobs filled his ears, and he would have given anything to be right there with his arms around her. She'd always been a second mother to Vince, just as Rita had been one to Eric. It killed him to think of her there alone. "I'm on my way to, E, you just have to hang in there for me. Can you do that, Ma? Can you do it for E and me?"

"I'd do anything for my boys," she managed through the tears. "Just get here, Vince, okay? He needs you. Eric really needs you."

Drama was screaming at the poor girl behind the ticket counter when Vince finally hung up with Eric's mom and got into the airport. Vince usually could flash his best smile and smooth things over when the guys got to be too much, but he just couldn't find that usual charm right now. His best friend was hanging on by a thread, and he wasn't there. He hadn't be there. Hell, E wouldn't have even been there if Vince hadn't thrown a fit and insisted that his best friend take care of the deal personally.

"Look, I don't care what you have to do or how much it costs," Vince demanded softly but harshly. "Just get us on the next flight out of here, do you hear me? It's an emergency."

Those were the last words Vincent would speak for the next several hours. Turtle and Drama both tried to entice him into conversation. Turtle answered the phone each time Eric's mom called back with an update, filling the boys in with the few details she could offer. Vince would only nod stoically before slipping his eyes closed, not wanting anyone to see the sadness and concern clouding his otherwise confident gaze. It didn't matter how many times his Turtle and Johnny assured him that things were going to be alright, he wouldn't believe it until he had seen E for himself.

The hot desert air hit him like a cruel blast the minute he stepped off a plane. Drama and Turtle planted themselves firmly at his side, serving as makeshift bodyguards to protect him against the unwanted paparazzi and usual fans waiting for him at the arrival gate. Vince kept his head low, his eyes covered by the dark sunglasses that actually belonged to his character. A car was waiting for them at the curb, both Ari and Shauna inside.

"Vin, don't worry, we're already on top of this," Shauna assured him as soon as the door slammed. Vincent looked at his publicist incredulously. Like he really gave a damn about the press right now. He'd never cared what the media thought. That was E's job. He'd always been about the guys and having a good time and making cinematic magic. E's accident fucked with all of that. "I called ahead to the hospital to guarantee that no one could get to you guys. E's mom is in a private waiting room. She's being taken care of."

He heard Turtle or Drama thank her as he turned to look out the window. If it was anyone else, Vince would know exactly how to deal with it. He'd just follow E's lead. Eric would know how to handle it, how to shield any of it from touching Vincent. He'd taken care of all the disasters in their lives, from the fight in third grade when someone had called Vince a fag for starring in the grade school play to the fallout from a few movies that hadn't quite been received with critical acclaim.

It was only when Ari said something about how they could spin this to Vince's advantage that the movie star sprung into action. Vince slammed his hands against the wooden bar in a vain attempt to keep him from choking the life out of his agent. "Don't you fucking talk about E like he's some publicity inconvenience," he said evenly but angrily. "My best friend is laying unconscious in a hospital bed, and I'm not there. I don't give a fuck what anyone says about this, including you, Ari. I'm not leaving his side, and you're not going to use this to make yourself some fucking money."

Drama rested his hand on his little brother's shoulder. "It's okay, Vin, we're almost there," he said gently. "Turtle and me will take care of everything."

"Vinny, I'm sorry..."

"Ari, shut the fuck up," Turtle snapped, turning his back to block off the agent. This was the last thing any of them needed. He just wanted to get Vince into the hospital and see Eric without having a national incident. Cedars Sinai wasn't exactly private, but it had one of the best trauma centers in the country. Even someone like Turtle knew that. "Just for once, shut the fuck up and think about Vince first."

There were four photographers and someone with a video camera from TMZ waiting for him when the car arrived outside a private entrance. Shauna was the first out of the car, working her PR magic to get them back by providing a few vague details about Eric's status. Ari was right behind her, his best smile plastered on his face. The paparazzi weren't interested in what either of them had to say, though. They were all there for one shot of a distraught Vincent. He knew that he should manage some fake smile to reassure the assholes waiting for him that E was going to be fine, but he couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. None of this mattered if E wasn't here to share it with him, and this had reminded him exactly of that.

"Ready, Vince?" Turtle asked, his hand resting on the door handle, waiting for permission to open the door. As soon as they stepped out of the car, all of this would become very real.

"I want to go first," Vince decided, brushing Turtle aside. He had already taken too long to get in there. Pressing the sunglasses back over his tired eyes, Vince swung his legs out of the limo and sprinted toward the hospital. Flashes exploded on all sides of them but he didn't see them. He only saw Eric's mother, hunched over tiredly, outside a room at the end of the hall in the intensive care unit. He flew right into her open arms, finally allowing the tears to come. Turtle and Drama were right behind him, hugging Eric's mother as Vince wandered over to look through the double-paned window.

"He's not doing so good, Vincent," the older woman said as she came up behind him. Vince slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. It was exactly what E would do if the situation was reversed and Rita was waiting for him to wake up. "The doctors say that it's not looking so good. His chances get worst with every hour that passes."

"Fuck that shit," he cursed before looking up at her sheepishly and apologizing. Eric's mom had that whole Catholic guilt thing down perfectly. "What do they know, hey? I've never cared what other people think. They don't know, E, Ma. We know him. We know how good he is. He's always been a fighter, a scrapper, since we were kids. This ain't any different. E's gonna pull through."

A nurse came by and asked shyly if they needed anything. Turtle chased her off, recognizing immediately the stargazed look in her pretty olive eyes. "You can go in and see him, Vin," Eric's mom offered. "They said that it was only family, but it don't get much more family than you. I got you clearance, the boys too. Shauna has been taking real good care of me since I got here. I guess you being a star is finally paying off."

Like Vincent's mom, Eric's mother had never really been into the whole Hollywood scene. Other than the _Aquaman_ premiere a few years back, she had barely come out to LA at all. She would see the boys when they were home for the holidays and always politely thanked her boys whenever they would send gifts from sunny LA. "I'll get him whatever he needs," he promised with a tight embrace. This woman had given him everything when she had given him the best friend he had ever known. Eric was more than just some guy he'd know since he was a kid. He was his partner-in-crime, his other half, his saving grace.

Eric's private room was small and dark, the only sound the constant hum of one of the many monitors wired to his small body. Sliding into the only chair at Eric's bedside, Vince finally pulled off the sunglasses to take a good look at his best friend. There were bruises and scrapes every where, bandages hiding patches of raw flesh and hideous gashes oozing blood. Casts covered his left arm and right leg. Hair had been shaved away along his left side where they had given him more than two dozen stitches. It was the worst sight Vincent had ever seen in his life, and he would have given anything to trade places with his best friend.

"E, fuck," he choked out. _Fuck, fuck, fuck_. The singular curse word was the only coherent thought he could form as he looked down at Eric's comatose body in front of him. "How the fuck..." Asking the question just didn't seem right. He knew how he had gotten there, how they had gotten there. It was Vince's fault. Well, the accident was probably the drunk asshole who fell asleep behind the wheel's fault, but Vince was the reason Eric was in LA. He was the reason he had left Queens in the first place. Up until now, he had never once questioned his decision to ask E to come out. Now, it just seemed selfish knowing that he had put his best friend in that bed. "I'm sorry, E, I'm just so fucking sorry."

He could hear Eric in his head, reminding him that this wasn't his fault and that Eric would have ended up on that plane to California every single time. They had never done anything apart, even those eighteen months when they had lived on opposite sides of the coast. Barely a day had ever passed that didn't include a conversation between the two of them, even if it was just a fifteen second exchange with a promise to call the next morning. The only time they had really been apart and out of touch was that summer after _Medellin_ when Vince had hid out in Mexico, and even then, they had kept track of each other through Drama. Vince could still remember telling his best friend that he missed him and loved him when E was trying to convince Vin to come back to LA for that _Danger Beach _meeting. It had been the most honest thing he'd said to anyone in months.

Looking up at Eric through dark, wet lashes, he finally reached timidly for his best friend's hands. Eric's fingers were cool and limp in his hand, but Vincent covered his hand with his own anyway. "Your mom is a mess, E, you should see the guys. I don't know what I'm supposed to do to fix this. I know that you need for me to be that guy, but I've never been that guy. That's always been your thing," he murmured softly, resting his forehead against the mattress. "You have to come back and help me figure this out! This thing doesn't fucking work without you. This whole superstar thing, it's always been because of you. You're the first one who ever believed that I could be anything more than just some kid from Queens. I don't even give a fuck about that anymore. I just care about you and me and Turtle and Drama and your mom. I just care about our family. Please."

Vince had never been desperate day in his life and certainly never begged for anything. "So, here's what we're going to do, okay, E?" he asked rhetorically. "We're going to sit here. You're going to get the rest that you seem to need, and I'm just going to talk. I'm going to keep talking until you wake up and tell me to shut the fuck up like you used to when I would talk all night about some girl I hooked up with in high school."

And for the next six hours, Vincent lived up to his word, talking non-stop about the old days and the film and random things about the guys and everything he could think of with his very tired state of mind until his voice was completely hoarse. The guys came in and out, offering up their words and bringing him water. Eric's mom sat with them some, talking a little bit and filling in the blanks in Vince's stories. When one of the doctors came to remind them about visiting hours, Turtle and Drama managed to negotiate the special treatment that Vince was used to and E deserved.

"Vince, maybe we should get you home so you can get some rest."

"Fuck you, Turtle, I'm not leaving E."

Drama and Turtle exchanged a tired look. "Listen, Bro, you need to be your best for E. You're not going to be any good for anyone if you're exhausted," Drama tried to reason. "I'll stay here while you go home and get some rest."

"I said I'm not leaving E," Vincent replied automatically. "He wouldn't leave me." There was no arguing with Vince because they both knew that he was right. Eric would never leave Vincent alone in a hospital, not even if he was surrounded by the rest of their close-knit world. Vince was going to be the first person E asked for when he woke up, and he had every intention of being right there when his best friend called out for him. "You guys should go home and get some sleep. See if you can take E's mom. She could probably use some rest and a shower."

"Shauna already took her out to the car," Turtle told him as he came over to pat his friend's hand. "E, we'll be back in the morning. Vin, call us if there is any changes."

"You'll be the first to know," he promised tiredly before bumping his fist against his friend's. Drama waved tiredly from the doorway before leaving Vince and E alone in the dark, sterile room. "You hear that, E? They're all worried about you. You can't have these guys worrying about you, huh? We can't fucking take it. We always fall apart when you're not around."


	2. Chapter 2

It took awhile for Vincent to finally give into the sleep that had been threatening to consume him for the past few hours. It was three hours ahead in Canada where they'd been filming, and that, combined with the stress of everything else, sent him into a restless sleep. He woke briefly some time in the middle of the night when a nurse came into change out E's IV and check his vitals. Once she had reassured him that there had been no changes, he had managed to fall back asleep. It was only when he felt E's hand slightly twitch in his two hours after that he fully woke up.

"Vin?" Eric's voice was hoarse but definitely clear. Vincent leaned over him and turned on the light over his bed. He couldn't help but grin as Eric tried to talk. He handed over his bottle of water and helped E take a long drink of the lukewarm liquid. "What are you doing here? You should be in Canada."

Even in his strained tone in the aftermath of a horrendous car accident, E's first concern was Vince and his career. "Doesn't matter, E," he said softly, happily, squeezing Eric's hand. "I should go get the doctor, call your mom. We've all been waiting to see those pretty blue eyes of yours, E. They tried telling us we might not get to see them, but we weren't having it. We knew you'd pull through. My boy always pulls through."

Eric tried to shake his head. "No, not yet," he managed. "Just you."

Vince nodded his head understandingly. "Alright, just a minute and then I'm getting the docs, E," he insisted as he perched on the edge of the bed. He suddenly couldn't stand to be away from E even a little bit. It was like if he quit holding onto him then Eric would slip back under. "Hey."

"Yo," Eric whispered. "Vin, am I...am I okay?"

"You're pretty beat up, E," he admitted honestly. He saw the panic flash in Eric's blue eyes, ones that he knew as well as his own. "But nothing that my boy can't take, right? You've taken a lot worse beatings back in the neighborhood."

"Fuck you, Vin," he smiled slightly. "You know your pretty ass is the only one that ever got kicked back in those days."

It was the most words that Eric would manage to string together for quite some time, but they were probably the best ones that Vincent had ever heard. It was the most Eric-like thing he could have said at a time like that. Despite his best friend's pleas to the contrary, Vince had eventually called the doctors to let them know that E had woken up. He also called the house to send after E's mom and the boys. Turtle said that he would call Shauna, but Vince told him to hold off. He didn't care about sharing any of this with anyone other than the three people on his way back to them. "This isn't about Hollywood," Vince reminded Turtle. "This is about us."

Vince was waiting alone in the empty hallway when Eric's mom came running into the hospital, a breathless Turtle right behind her. He looked like a scared little boy in the ratty scrubs one of the nurses had scrounged up for him with his tangled hair framing his famously beautiful face. His blue eyes were dull and lifeless, exhausted but relieved. "Johnny's parking the car," she said as she hugged Vince tightly, brushing a kiss over his cheek. "How's my boy? How are both my boys?"

"They took him down to do some tests. They want to check for inrernal bleeding again," Vincent told her. He didn't bother to tell her how he was doing. He was pretty sure that she knew even before she asked. With his hand on the small of her back, he guided her toward the pair of couches in the waiting room that had been assigned to them. "He's awake and talking. That's all I really know."

It was nearly an hour before someone came up to talk to them and then it was only to tell them that they had taken Eric in for emergency surgery. His lung had collapsed and there was bleeding near his small intestine. Drama started cursing because it took so long for anyone to tell them anything, and Turtle finally started placing the calls to the family back home. Eric's mother headed down to the hospital chapel to pray like the good Catholic that she was, and Vince sat alone in Eric's room, holding his best friend's prized BlackBerry in his hand.

He thought about calling Ari and Shauna, maybe even Kristen or Sloan. They'd all want to know about Eric probably, but he couldn't make himself put through the calls. Instead, he called the only number other than E's he'd ever bothered to memorize. It took only one ring before the warm and familiar voice filled his ear. "Hey, baby, I'm on my way to the airport right now with Turtle's mom. How are you hanging in there?"

He knew that it had to be pretty bad for his mom to come all the way out to California, especially with how much she hated to fly. Eric was the only one who had managed to convince her to come out to LA, and now, he had managed to bring her back out here again. "He's not doing good, Ma," he answered honestly, finally thinking and saying those words for the first time. "Ma, I can't lose him."

"Hey, none of that," she chided him, muffling the phone for a moment to curse at someone in the background. "Listen, baby, I'm getting into a cab now. We'll be there as soon as we can. You just stay there for your best friend, and we'll say a few prayers. E's not going down like this. Just remember that."

After telling his mom that he loved her and wishing her a safe flight, he still clutched the phone in his hand. Drama came by to bring him one of those carrot muffins he loved from vending machines and a cup of bad hospital coffee from the cafeteria. "You talked to Ma?"

"She's on her way," he answered without looking up from E's phone. "Make sure someone picks them up."

"Turtle is going to meet them at the tarmac, Ari set everything up," Drama told him. "Need anything?"

Dragging his fingers through his hair, Vince only shook his head before turning away from his brother. He loved Johnny, but he didn't understand this. No one really did, not even Vince. "I just want to wait for E to come back," he decided aloud. "Do me a favor? Go check on E's mom. She shouldn't be alone."

"Yeah, sure, Vin," Drama promised as he turned to go. He could already see his brother going inside his head, to that dark place where no one could reach him. It was like after Mandy the second time, when E had been the only one to get through to him. Without E, there was no Vince. It had been like that since they were six years old, and it would be like that long after if they were to ever lose either one.

At any given moment, Vince could promise that he cared about exactly five people in this entire world. Despite the fact that he came from a family of six kids, Johnny was the only one that had ever really given a fuck about Vince. His mom and Eric's mom had been his only parents growing up, his own father worth less than the dirt on the bottom of his shoes. Turtle had been loyal from the day they met, following him like a foot soldier willing to lay down his life on a moment's notice. But at the top of that list, the very definition of that list, was Eric. They'd always had something different, and now that he could lose that, it was finally time to come to terms with exactly what that meant.

People had teased Eric and Vince mercilessly over the years, made insinuations and called them fags. Eric had dealt with it in the old days with his fists and his biting words now. Shauna had worked double time to keep a situation that just wasn't there out of the press, despite whatever Ari claimed to see or think or know. Vince had always brushed it off with a laugh and a coy smile, knowing that it was better to keep people wondering than to let them know they had gotten to you. Eric had been to quick to correct them, but it didn't bother Vince. He loved his best friend, it was just a different kind of love than people made it out to be. As long as E was at his side, best friend or manager or whatever, everything would be fine. It was always all about Eric and Vince.

However, if he allowed himself to really think about it (which he rarely did because it just became too real, and Vince didn't deal in reality), Vince had always known that there was something more to them than just a traditional bromance built over years of fights and chicks and two coasts and millions of dollars and weed and beer and love. "God, how did I miss it?" he wondered aloud, his hand dropping into his hands. He'd entertained the thought once, a few years ago, when Kristen and then Sloan had talked about how co-dependent they were. He'd wondered if there was something more that they were missing but everyone else could see. He'd decided that if he loved E or if E was in love with Vince, they would both know. After all, no one knew him like Eric, and he definitely knew E better than anyone. Still, he had missed it and the others had seen it and it had always been there. He was in love with his best friend.

"How did I miss it?"

"How did you miss what?" came a whispered reply, sending Vince's gaze flying toward the door. It had been three hours since he had last seen E, but he came back to him as a tired ghost of his usually energetic and stressed-out self. "Talking to yourself now, Vin? We're going to have to see about getting you checked into the psych ward. Maybe we can get a family discount. What do you say, Gladys?"

"Yo, fuck you, E," Vince managed to laugh before making his way over to Eric's side. He smiled apologetically at the nurse briefly before fixing his eyes back on his friend. "How you feeling, man?"

"Like shit," he answered honestly. Vince stepped back for a moment while two sturdy orderlies transferred E back to his bed. They managed to get his leg fixed back to the sling to hold it in place, careful not to mess with his stitches. Vince glanced outside to see Eric's mom talking to a doctor. He thought about going out there but decided against leaving E. "Doc says I'm pretty fucked up. What'd ya think, Vin?"

Without his expensive suit and trusty BlackBerry, Eric reverted to the foul-mouthed kid fresh off a plane from La Guardia. Vince hoped he never lost that part of E. It was almost his favorite part. "I think you're going to be just fine, E," he decided, and in the next moment, he was given his favorite part. E's blue eyes twinkled brilliantly as he managed to smile up at him. Vince managed to find Eric's hand and clasp it tightly in his. "Everything is going to be just fine." Turtle knocked on the window and waved him to come out. "Listen, I should go out there..."

"No!" Eric shrieked, the single word coming out more like a high-pitched plea. "Vin, don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere," Vince promised as he sunk back down in his seat. "I'm here, E, as long as it takes and probably for a long time after."

"You'll have to go back for the movie soon enough."

"Not going anywhere until you can go with me," Vince promised. "Ever again, I mean it, E. I'm not leaving you again. Wherever I go, you go and vice versa."

"Stop being a girl, Vince," Eric taunted before dropping his voice into a whisper. "Thanks."

They sat awhile in silence, Eric falling in and out of sleep while Vince watched him carefully. The gentle rise and fall of E's chest was mesmerizing, and he soon found himself counting the number of Eric's breaths. He was just about to close his eyes when Eric stirred slightly and reached out for Vincent's hands. "Hey, you okay?"

"Fine," Eric answered softly. "I just couldn't feel you. I thought you were gone."

It was unlike Eric to let anyone see how much he needed someone, even Vince. However, he was like a lost little boy right now, his heart vulnerable and wide open. "I promised you that I wasn't going anywhere, E. Look, I always trusted you to make all my choices for me before. Maybe it's time you start trusting me to make a few of yours."

"If I left it up to you, we'd both be drunk on some beach in Mexico."

"Better than here," Vince pointed out.

Eric laughed softly. "Good point," he allowed. "Alright, after I get out of here and the film is done, we're going to Mexico for a month. No cell phone, no work, just pure relaxation."

"And no Turtle and Drama?"

"Whatever you want, Vin, you're the man in charge."

Vince was quiet for a few minutes before he looked over at his friend. "You know that I love you, right? I mean, I know we don't fucking say stuff like that to each other, but you know that, don't you?"

Eric considered this for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I know." He didn't offer up any indication if Eric understood just how deeply that love ran or what it all meant. He just squeezed Vince's hand and sighed uncomfortably as he rolled onto his side to meet those sleepy blue eyes that had cast a million daydreams for prepubescent girls and aging queens all over the world. "Hey, me too, man."

It wasn't exactly a fairytale moment to make grand declarations, but Vince felt himself creeping closer to his best friend anyhow. With Eric's eyes shut, Vince found that last bit of confidence he needed to cover his mouth over E's. Without a second thought as to who might be watching or what it might mean, he finally kissed Eric Murphy, the best friend he'd had since he was six.

It was only when E started to push him away and mutter curse words under his breath that he pulled back. "Fuck, Vince!" Eric yelled, his voice at its strongest since he had woken up. "What the fuck are you fucking doing, you stupid fuck?"

Four "fucks" in the course of ten seconds was definitely not a good sign, at least not when it was spewing form an angry Eric still attached by wires to his hospital bed. "Really, Vin, what are you doing?" he managed to ask when he was calmer.

Vince noticed that E was holding his fingers to his lips, his eyes dark and dangerous. He wanted to kiss him again but thought better of it. "I don't know," he admitted. "I just know that I had to do it because I almost lost you tonight, E, twice. You could have died without either of us knowing how I felt about you, and the thought of going one more second without you knowing that I'm completely, irreversibly, so fucking in love with you that I can't see straight....well, it's just not going to happen."

What came next, Vince could have never expected. Eric fisted his hands in his sheets as he turned away from Vince angrily. "Get the fuck out now, you fucking asshole," he sneered. When Vince didn't go at first, he raised his voice. "Get the fuck out now, Vin! Get out of here."

Vincent left the room but didn't leave the hospital. He stayed right outside E's room for the next twelve hours, just where Eric could still see him. He was a beautifully messy sight, sprawled out awkwardly in that plastic chair as he tried to sleep. Eric's mom tried to talk to him, but E wouldn't say what happened. He just watched Vince watching him and tried not to believe that this changed everything between them.


	3. Chapter 3

It was some time after two that morning before Eric's mom left his room, her shoulders slumped with the weight of the world. "He's waiting for you, Vincent," she told him tiredly after shaking him awake. "Whatever happened between you boys, don't let it happen again."

He couldn't promise her that even if he wanted, so he only managed a smile and hugged her before sending her home with the boys. He waited until he was sure they were all gone before leaning in the doorway of E's room and looking at his best friend. "Which one of us is sorry?"

"We probably both should be," E muttered before waving him in. Vince closed the door quietly behind him before padding sleepily over to the side of the bed. "Vin, about earlier, what happened..."

"I'm not apologizing for that."

"I know you're not," Eric said, holding Vince's gaze for a long moment before looking away. He wasn't going to admit that he was wrong any more than he had after he hooked up with E's cousin the summer between seventh and eighth grade or that window he'd broken playing baseball when they were eleven. "But I am apologizing for what I said to you. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that, not when I know what it meant for you."

Eric had known Vincent better and longer than anyone, so he knew what it took for Vince to say those words and do those things to him. Vince might risk his money, his career and his reputation freely, but he had never been one to risk his heart. "I meant all of it."

"I know you did," he promised. "It's not that I don't, ya know, Vince...It's just that it's kind of everything all at once. You're not just some random girl, this can't be just a one-night stand." Vince started to reply that he knew that but understood that Eric needed to get this out. "When I came out here to build your career, I wasn't just doing it for you. I was doing it for all of us. I was building a life for you, with you, Vin."

"It's more than we ever dreamed of, E," Vince reminded him. "And it's all because of you."

"And you," Eric countered, shaking his head. "It's because of us."

Vince was confused and unsure for probably the millionth time that day, something that still caught him off guard. He wasn't used to not knowing what to say or do. How was he supposed to have that figured out when the person that usually did that for him was the one bringing all of that up in him? "Eric."

"Don't call me that," he implored with a whisper. He never called him that unless he was hurt and angry. That word didn't sound quite so beautiful coming from Vince's mouth. "I hate when you call me that. E, always E."

"Whatever you fucking want," he murmured as he moved closer, seeing an opening for the first time since he had come back into the room. "Just tell me that you feel it, whatever this is, between us, too."

Eric saw for the first time how twisted Vince really was over him, and it melted the tiny last bit of resolve that he had built around his heart. Through Queens and LA, Mandy and Sloane, box office hits and complete failures, Billy Walsh and Ari Gold – Vince and E had managed to get through all of that because they had each other. If they could get through all that, they could make it through one little kiss and the next and probably even the one after that.

"Yeah, I feel it."

"What is it, E?"

Eric tugged on his ear anxiously but managed a wry grin. "I'm not saying it, you asshole," before looking away again. He knew that he couldn't be the one to say it first because it would be too easy for Vince to use it against him later. He could pin it on E, say that he was the first one to admit his feelings, even if it was the furthest thing from the truth. "You say it if you need to hear it so bad."

"So it's gonna be like that, E?"

"It's been like that, Vin," he shot back. "You're making the calls now, tell me what to do."

"Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking," Eric drawled in his thick Eastern accent, "that you're too far away from me right now." he reached for Vince's hand and pulled him onto the edge of the bed. "And I'm thinking that this could all be a big mistake." He threaded their fingers into an intricate web so that it was impossible to tell where one of them began and the other one ended. "That no one is going to like it and that we are going to have a lot to explain." He drew their hands up closer to his mouth and brushed a kiss over each of Vince's knuckles. "And that your career could be tabloid fodder in a matter of minutes if his ever got out." His eyes flickered up to meet Vince's. "And I'm thinking that for once I don't care."

Vince knew it was a lie even as Eric's hand wrapped around his neck and brought him down closer to him. He knew that Manager E would show up any minute and kill any ideas of fun they could have in this tiny little room. Still, for the moment, E allowed himself to revel in Vince's warm lips on his and his fingers tangling in his hair. Vince leaned into the kiss before breaking away, repeating the pattern that Eric had initiated the night before. "E, slow down."

"I don't want to slow down," he murmured sleepily against Vince's lips. He just wanted to be reckless this one time. His entire life had flashed before his eyes when that truck had broadsided his car and sent him tail-spinning the middle of the busy intersection. He had seen flashes of his parents at his high school graduation and Drama when he landed his latest TV role and Turtle chasing Arnold around the beach in front of Jessica Alba's house in Malibu. However, even more clearly than those images, he had seen Vince – brilliant, luminous, shining Vince smiling at him. It could have been nearly any day of his life because it was _that_ smile, the one that Vince reserved only for him.

Yet, as reckless as Eric wanted to be, Vince needed him to be that much more sure. Emotions were running high in that room, and he knew that they couldn't consume each other like they wanted. "We don't have to figure this all out tonight, okay?" he told E carefully as he sat back down in his chair, making sure to never let go of Eric's hand. "I can't...I can't risk you not being completely sure. I know you think you are, but I've been thinking about this for awhile. You're just processing it all now."

"Awhile?" E asked, his voice half surprised and half in awe. "How long, Vin?"

"I'm not really sure, E. Some days it feels like forever," he admitted, his eyes clouding over as he remembered that fight their first year together in LA when Eric had nearly stayed behind when he had gone back to New York to do _Queens Boulevard_. Some things had clicked for him that night on the tarmac. "Do you remember when we were going back to do _Queens Boulevard?_" Eric nodded as he brushed his thumb over Vince's. He was the one stuck in a hospital bed, but he still managed to find ways to soothe Vince. It was amazing. "You showed up in your ratty jeans and your faded t-shirt and you were just so damn stubborn that you were going to fucking let me go home without you. I wanted to be like, fuck you, I can do this without you. But I knew that I couldn't. I didn't even want to try doing it without you."

"Yeah, you could, man," Eric disagreed. He'd always believed in Vince, even when it was stupid to have that kind of blind faith in someone that often didn't really deserve it. While Vince might have always believed that things were going to work out in the long run, Eric knew that Vince could make those things happen. He just had to push him along sometimes. "You could always do it, Vince. You think I would have let you go out to LA without me if I didn't think you'd be fine? C'mon, you know me better than that."

Vince thought about that for a minute before responding. "Maybe I could have, E, maybe I could have made it to this point without you," he allowed. He still didn't quite believe those words, but Eric had always believed in him enough for the both of them. "But it's like I told you then and again when I came back from New York to get you last year, I wouldn't want to do this without you. As long as you're still around, this gets to be fun. It's just me hanging out with my boys. The minute you leave, it becomes a job. I don't want this to become a job."

Eric's eyes started to droop a little bit. It was just too much emotional honesty in one night, even for a sensitive soul like him. He had been rearing to go earlier, ready to dive in head first, but he needed to try to figure this out. There were a lot of things to consider, not just how it could ruin their friendship but also other relationships in their lives and their careers. "Fuck, I'm tired," he cursed senselessly. "Do you mind if I get some sleep?"

"No, I can go. Just think about it, okay, E?"

"No," he said softly as he turned on his side. Vince looked at him all wide-eyed and panicky. "That's not what I meant. I just meant that you don't have to go. Stay. I want you to stay."

And so that was what Vince did. He carefully arranged his long body into the plastic chair and managed to sleep for a few hours at a time while checking on Eric. A nurse came somewhere near dawn and offered to let him take a shower in the doctor's lounge and handed over a packed bag Turtle had dropped off at the front desk. He made sure not to be gone too long and was back long before Eric woke up. It was only when he saw a group of five familiar figures standing outside E's room that he dared to leave again.

Much like he had fled into Eric's mom's arms two days before, Vince was relieved when he finally saw his mother standing in the hospital hallway along with his brother and the others. Shutting the door carefully behind him, Vince dissolved into an exhausted puddle of tears as Rita Chase gathered him in his arms. She led him carefully out of sight from the few nosy patients and visitors loitering outside Eric's room and into their private waiting room. Eric's mom had disappeared into her son's room, while Turtle and his mother watched guard outside. If Turtle wasn't enough to keep anyone away, his mom would definitely do the trick. She was still one of the only people in the world that scared Vince.

Rita sat with her son for several minutes, allowing him to cry as the realization of the past forty-eight hours washed over him. Even if he had cried before, he hadn't fully let the walls down until his mother had gotten there. She was the only person other than E that got to see him like this. He still felt like a kid around her, sneaking out of his second-floor window to smoke pot with E and Turtle and coming in too late to look for cookies in the kitchen cupboard downstairs. When he had finally caught his breath enough to listen to her, she rested her hand on his shoulder and looked down at him with motherly concern. "I'm worried about you, Vincent. Johnny says that you haven't left the hospital at all since you got back here. You need to go home, get some real sleep. You're not going to be any good to Eric if you don't get out of here some."

"He asked me not leave, Ma, I can't let him down," he said dismissively, running his fingers through his dark curls because he couldn't get his hands to stay still. "Turtle and Johnny have been bringing me food. The nurses are good about letting me sleep in there and take a shower. I'm fine, Ma. Don't worry about me, I don't need it. Worry about him."

Johnny and Rita exchanged a quick glance. "Listen, Bro, Ma's right. You can't just stay by E's side all the time. We get that you love him, we all do," Drama tried to reason. "But you're not going to be any good to him if you're wound up like this."

"He wouldn't leave me," he replied matter-of-factly, and they all knew that he was right. There was no arguing with that. "In fact, I shouldn't have even left him alone this long...."

Vince started to get up, but his mother yanked him back down into the chair. Her youngest son was dead on his feet, and if he didn't pause to get some real rest, he was going to end up beside Eric in a hospital bed. "His mother is in with him. You're going to go down with us and eat an actual meal. You can see Eric when you're done."

"I'm not going anywhere," he argued as he pulled out of his mother's grasp.

"Listen, Bro..."

"Fuck you, Drama!" he snapped. He knew that he was exhausted and maybe they were even right. He just didn't care. He wasn't leaving E.

"Vincent!"

Scrubbing his hands over his face, Vince turned in the door way and looked back at his mother and brother. "Sorry, Ma," he apologized automatically, more for the cursing than the anger. "I'm just not going anywhere without Eric."

It stunned Rita to hear her son use his best friend's first name. He never really said it anymore. It had always been _E this_ and _E that_ ever since they were six years old. She'd always joked that she had seven kids as much as that kid had been around. And when things were rough around the Chase household, she never had to worry about Vincent because he could escape from reality for a few days over at the Murphy house.

Just as Vince was getting ready to go back toward Eric's room, they all heard a high-pitched squeal of a crashing monitor at the exact same time. Vince froze in his spot and he just knew. They all knew. Without even thinking, he was running down the corridor toward a room he had left for just a few minutes. The room was barricaded closed, a team of doctors and nurses working frantically inside. Eric's mom had her face buried in Turtle's shoulder while his mother stood stoically by her side. Rita and Johnny were right behind Vince as they came to a crashing halt in front of the room.

"What happened?!?" Vince screamed, not giving a damn who heard him or what they told the press. He was done trying to be low-key about this. He looked at his mother. "I told you that I shouldn't leave him." His tone was angry. Turning away from Rita, he managed to take Eric's mom from Turtle and pull her down on the bench by Eric's door. "What happened to E?"

"He woke up so confused, looking around the room and asking for you," she tried to explain, but the words were stunted by the sobs wracking her body. She had Eric's sad blue eyes and the same strawberry tint to her long hair. "I was getting ready to explain why you weren't there when his eyes rolled back in his head and he started shaking. I started screaming for a doctor."

After deducting that Eric had a seizure, he motioned for his brother to come over and stay with Eric's mom. He left his mom and Turtle calling after him as he came into Eric's room. He knew that if E could tell that he was nearby, somehow everything was going to be okay. Knowing well enough to stay out of the way, he prayed that none of the nurses would chase him out of the room. Eric had stopped seizing by now, and the frantic scream of the monitor had returned to its melodic constant beep. The doctor called for gurney before starting in on a stream of medical terms and orders to a pair of nurses.

"Mr. Chase, we're going to have to ask you to leave," an orderly told him as they rushed into the room with a gurney. "We need to prep Mr. Murphy for surgery. You're going to have to step outside."

"What is happening?"

"Mr. Chase, a doctor will be down to brief the family as soon as we have him in surgery. Now you need to step outside."

He rarely did what he was told without arguing but he could sense the urgency in the other man's voice as he ordered him out of the room. He only shrugged when he came outside, reaching for E's mom's hand as their boy was rushed by and down toward the operation room. "Oh, God," her small voice cried out, and for just a moment, Vince thought that they could still lose Eric. He could lose E. They could lose their chance.


	4. Chapter 4

Hours passed without any word, and slowly but surely, Vince had escaped completely into himself. The only person he would speak to at all was E's mom, and then it was only to answer a question or to make sure that she was okay. Shauna and Ari were called in to deal with the people waiting outside the hospital, but Vince couldn't be bothered to care. His agent and publicist came inside to talk to him, but he really didn't say anything. He only nodded and signed off on whatever statement Shauna wanted to release. Ari mentioned something about the movie but Turtle called him off. It didn't matter any way. Vince hadn't heard a single word.

Drama brought him another cup of coffee and handed over E's BlackBerry, which was buzzing with messages about things that didn't really matter and a few things that almost did. Turtle offered to sneak him in some weed, but Vince silently declined. He turned down his mother's pleas for him to eat or Turtle's mom's insistence that the boys take a walk. He did agree to go down to the chapel with E's mom to say a prayer, but he just say there while she had her words with God. And when they came back upstairs to wait for anything, something, from the surgeon, Vince went right back to his chair and sitting basically alone in silence.

Finally, after Ari had screamed at a poor nurse long enough, the chief of surgery had deigned them important enough to have a face-to-face conversation about Eric's condition. There were complications from his injuries that the doctors hadn't seen before paired with an adverse reaction to the medication he had been on. They were working hard to repair the damage, but Eric was going to be touch and go for the next twenty-four hours or so. Turtle asked the one question that they were all asking but couldn't bear to say. The surgeon assured him that E's chances for recovery were very good, but that was all he could really tell them at this point with any certainty.

It was only after twelve more hours, marking the three-day anniversary of Vince's arrival at the hospital, that they finally brought a sleeping Eric back down to his room. E's mom was ushered inside, Vince at her side, for another debriefing about his condition. He left briefly to tell them what little else they knew before closing the door to E's room and sitting quietly at his side. E's mom left a half hour later to call back to Queens to give Eric's only sister an update on his condition. Drama went down to the lobby with her and Shauna for protection, his eyes scanning the visitors in case any overly ambitious paparazzi decided to make their move.

When they were alone again, Vince went over and drew the blinds, not wanting anyone to watch him interact with his friend. He sat by Eric's side and started talking all over again, like he had before when he'd woken up the first time. When he ran out of things to talk about, he started reading from the script that Turtle had stashed in the bottom of his bag. He read the words that would soon appear on the screen, wondering if Eric would like the latest blockbuster that Ari had sent over. It seemed decent, but he never made a call without running it by E first. He kept waiting for Eric to sit up and tell him that he was overacting but that never came. He only heard the soft sigh of his breathing and the constant hum of the machines around him.

Turtle knocked on the door and stuck his head in. "Think I could get a minute with him, Vin?"

Vince closed his eyes and nodded, not really caring if Turtle had seen him holding his best friend's hand. "Yeah, I'll go get some more coffee," he said as he brushed past his friend. Turtle stopped and put his arm around him from the side, hugging him awkwardly. Vince understood that this was Turtle's way of telling him that he knew and that it was okay and that whatever happened, it would always be the four of them. "Need anything?"

"Nah, just a minute with our boy here, ya know?"

There was another nod before Vince was gone, leaving Turtle behind to talk to Eric. "Fuck," he muttered, slamming his hand against the wall. He didn't know why he was upset this time, just that he was feeling restless. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Vince, baby, c'mon, let's get you out of here," Ari attempted, but Vince shouldered his hand off him violently. Drama came over to try to appease him, but he proved as fruitless as Rita and Ari had.

It was only when E's mom returned that he calmed down, and then only so that she didn't have something else to worry about. "Vincent, what do you say that you take me for a walk?"

He followed Eric's mother for awhile as they wandered aimlessly, ignoring the probing looks from people surprised to see the famous Vincent Chase walking the halls of their humble hospital. He didn't seem to notice much other than Eric's mom's arm looped through his and the clicking sound of her heels on the tile floor and the sterile smell of isopropyl alcohol in the air. "Vincent, you can't keep doing this. They're all hurting too. It's not just you and me worried about Eric. Your mother is just trying to help, Johnny and Salvatore, too."

Drama and Turtle probably understood why he was this way, his mother too. Still, he knew that she was right and that it didn't excuse how he'd been treating everyone. He'd been the selfish prick the press made him out to be sometimes. "I'm sorry, you're right, it's just hard."

"He wouldn't want you doing this to yourself. I know that's hard, especially since I know how bad Eric would be if it were you in that bad. Honestly, I'm not sure which would be harder on him. Eric has always needed you, Vince. I know that people think it's the other way around, but I've always known better. You need each other."

"Always have, always will," Vince conceded. "I just...it's more now."

"I know," she said softly. "Eric told me."

His eyes flashed to hers. "What do you mean?"

"That's what we were talking about when Eric had his seizure," she finally admitted. She hadn't wanted to tell Vince that they had been fighting when her son had started to fight for his life, but the truth was that they had been angry with each other. "He told me that things had changed between you, that there were a lot of things he needed to tell me. He was trying to make sense of everything, and I didn't want to hear it. I'm a Catholic, Vincent, my faith teaches me that it's a mortal sin. I was upset, we were fighting. He got really upset, and now the last thing I could have ever said to my son was that these feelings he is having...for you...were wrong."

He turned away Eric's mother angrily, letting a stream of curse words fly under his breath. "Your son just told you the hardest fucking thing we have ever had to deal with in our life and you tell him that it's wrong?" he sneered in a whisper. His head understood but his heart couldn't make sense of it. "I know that a lot of people are going to say it's not right, but for once, Eric actually didn't care. He just cared about how he felt. I love your son, do you understand that? I know what it means. Maybe you're going to condemn us, and I could deal with that if it was just me. But I know how much Eric loves you."

His thoughts were unorganized, and he knew that he wasn't really making any sense. His emotions had always ruled his words and dealing with Eric's mom after that fight wasn't any different. "You are absolutely right," she told him. Tears welled in her blue eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She had to be strong for Eric, for both of her boys, right now. "I know that you love Eric and that he loves you. I just know how hard this is going to be and I wanted more for my son. I wanted him to have an easier life than his father and I ever had back in Queens. You've both worked so hard to get to this place."

"I won't let E go down for this," Vince promised her, pushing down his angry feelings to look her in the eyes. "Even if it means walking away from everything so that he can keep his career, I'll do it. He means that much to me."

Eric's mother looked at him solemnly and nodded before Drama came jogging around the corner. "Bro, E's awake!" he shouted as soon as he saw Vince. "Come on, he's asking for you."

Vincent rushed past his brother, his friends and their mothers before bursting into E's room. He dropped to his knees beside Eric's bed as E struggled to keep his eyes open. "Vin," he whispered. "You left."

"Never, E," he assured him softly. "How you feeling?"

"Like fucking death," he answered. "I guess I wasn't so far off."

A doctor came in and pushed Vince out of the room again before going to check on his vitals and take him back down for another round of tests. Vince came out and apologized to everyone, his eyes lingering on his mother. Eric's mother didn't say anything further about the fight that she'd had with Eric. Vince was still a little upset at her for putting E through it in the first place. Rita sat between her boys as they both kept their eyes fixed at the end of the hallway, waiting for a peak of Eric's return. Turtle made some crack about Vince, which caused the movie star to crack a genuine smile for the first time in awhile and flip him off. Rita elbowed her son in the ribs, while Turtle's mom smacked him on the back of the head and reminded him yet again that they were in public.

The surgeon came back down, a clipboard on his hip. "Mrs. Murphy, I have more news about your son," he announced. "Everything is looking stable again. We're going to keep him in close observation, but I have reason to believe that everything is going to be perfectly fine. We're going to bring Eric back down soon. He is asking to see Mr. Chase first."

"Vincent, you go ahead and wait for him," Eric's mom prodded him, nudging him toward the door. This was her way of apologizing, and maybe someday, they would both be able to forget what had happened today. Mrs. Murphy might never get over the fact that her religion deemed them both as sinners, but he really didn't care. You don't get to choose who you fall in love with, and even if he could, Vincent still would have chosen Eric every single time.

This thought was on his mind when they rolled Eric back into the room and transferred him into the bed. A kind nurse tucked the blankets up around Eric's shoulders and smiled over at Vince affectionately. She was an older woman with a kind smile and had been the one taking care of Eric for most of his stay. She seemed to notice that there was something deeper here than a friendship but didn't feel the need to speculate. "I'll be back in awhile to check on you, just ring if you need me."

"Thanks, Gladys," Vince replied without ever breaking the gaze Eric had on him. "Yo."

"Yo," E said with a smile.

"You alright, E?"

Eric shook his head before shrugging. "Fuck if I know, doc says I'm going to be," he managed despite how sore his throat still was. Everything was still coming out hoarse, just when he needed strength in his voice most. "Vin, I told my mom."

"I know," he assured him, rubbing his hand over E's arm soothingly. "It's fine, we'll deal with it later. You can't get upset like that again. I won't have you scaring me like that again."

"I don't know why I told her or even what I told her," he said, ignoring what Vince had just said. "There isn't really even anything to tell her yet, is there? I mean, what do I say? _Sorry about those grandkids that you wanted, but I'm into dudes now_."

"Dudes?"

"Dude, you, whatever," Eric muttered. "God, even like this, it's all about stroking your ego?"

"I can think of a few things else I'd rather you stroke when you're up to it."

Eric started to laugh before grasping his side in pain. He reached out and punched Vince on the shoulder, the impact surprisingly hard given his current state. "You asshole, I'm not supposed to laugh," he moaned in pain. "Vince, I'm serious, we have to figure things out before we get out of here."

"You said you needed time. I'm giving you time."

"Well, I don't need time. I don't know what I need."

Vince moved closer and pressed his cool forehead against E's warm forearm. "You need me," he said softly, knowing that it was true. "You need to get better. You need to walk out of here with me so we can figure out how we're going to do this. Together."

"I should be so fucking pissed at you."

"Furious," Vince agreed. "I mean, you still can be if you want. I'm pretty good at getting you over being mad at me, and since the situation has changed, I can activate a whole new arsenal of tools. I know a few that have worked pretty well for me in the past, in fact."

"Vince, I'm not just another one of your girls," Eric reminded him uselessly. That much was obvious at this point. "You can't just buy me a sparkling piece of jewelry and soothe over the fact that you're disappearing for a few weeks or you used the wrong choice of words or you accidentally fell into some girl's pussy."

Vince chortled at E's last example before looking at him seriously. "E, first of all, I don't think a diamond pendant is up your alley. I was thinking more about those Armani cuff links that you liked so much a few weeks ago or maybe a new Rolex," he pondered aloud. "If that doesn't work, I can always go for something bigger. You liked when I bought you that car, didn't you? As for saying the wrong thing, I'm probably going to do that. I do that. A lot. You know that. But I'll always apologize and you'll forgive me because you know when I mean something and when I don't."

"And the girls?"

"There is no one else after you, E," Vincent said genuinely. He threaded his fingers through Eric's and looked down at with him all the heartfelt sincerity he could muster. It was the smile that had caused screaming girls all over the world to swoon, but it was all directed at Eric Murphy. "I mean it, E, I love you."

It was the first time he had said it outright like that, but it seemed to be the only way to convince Eric that he was being honest about this. That he meant it more than any line in any script he had ever said. No one could have written a story like this. It would be the best work of his life, a real-life love story between a manager and a super star, two roughnecks from Queens, a couple of guys who just happened to get lucky to find their best friend and the love of their life in the same person.

"I love you, too," Eric said after what seemed like an eternity. "You need to tell Ari. And Shauna. And the guys. Oh, God, Turtle is going to die. And Johnny...What about your mom?"

"Well, I think that Turtle might already know, though I'm not sure. Johnny will find a way to be okay with it. It might not be what he expected, but at least it will leave more girls for them," Vince joked. "As for my mom, E, I won't lie to you. She's not going to like it. That's fine, I can deal with that."

"Ari is going to kill me."

"He'll have to go through me first," Vince reminded him protectively. Even as friends, that had always been their promise to each other. They would always have the other's back, and you didn't fight one without expecting the other. "Ari wants me as his client, so he'll deal with it. Shauna too."

"You need to think about getting back to Canada."

"Not going anywhere, E," he shot back automatically. "Ari has talked to them. I have at least a week. They're not going to fire me if they want to finish thing. It would take too long to recast and do reshoots. If you're doing better tomorrow, I might even let you talk to Ari. For now, though, you need to not worry about it. You need to focus on your recovery."


	5. Chapter 5

It was a long week, one filled with many trips back and forth from the guys' place to the hospital. Turtle's mom eventually went back to Queens with Rita. They both had jobs to get back to, and they weren't really needed once Eric was deemed stable enough to be moved out of ICU. The guys worked out a schedule with E's mom so that one or more of them was always there, Vince taking on more shifts than the others. She never said anything else about Vince and E, but she could barely stand to be in the same room as the two of them alone. Turtle was always really careful whenever he would come in there, afraid that he might find something that he didn't want to see. Only Drama seemed unaffected by it all.

Finally, after promising to have a full team of medical personnel, a personal doctor and the rest of the guys at his full access for however long it took, Eric's surgeon allowed him to check out and go home on the condition that he returned to the hospital for appointments every other day and continued his physical therapy regime with the expert who'd been flown in from Zurich. Drama and Eric's mom were back at the boys' house getting things ready for E's return home while Vince had gone with Turtle to pick him up. Shauna was waiting at the door along with the pair of security guards who would ensure that overeager fans and zealous photographers didn't get too close to E. Ari was back in his office working the phones, returning the endless stream of calls that had come in over the two weeks since the car accident.

"Alright, man, are you ready for this?" Turtle asked tersely as the three boys stopped just outside the door. Despite the fact that they were exiting the hospital through one of the lesser used delivery entrances, people had still managed to track Vince and Eric down. "I'll go out and get the car. You all wait here until I pull the car around."

"Hey, try to hurry," Vince said worriedly. Turtle nodded at him obediently before ducking his head and immersing himself in the hungry crowd buzzing around outside. "This is insane." It was times like this that it hardly seemed worth it. While he usually loved the crowds, almost thrived on hearing his name chanted by thousands of fans, there were times he would give anything to be completely anonymous. "So is the price of fame, I guess. Right, E?"

"Uh huh," he muttered distractedly. He had a hooded sweatshirt on that was probably two sizes too big and Vince's trademark sunglasses. Eric had lost a lot of weight since the accident and was starting to swim in his own clothes. Drama had promised to rectify that with his cooking, and Vince knew that E's mom had been working all morning to make the homemade corned beef and cabbage that E had loved growing up as a kid. "Vin, maybe I shouldn't be going home."

"The doctors said that you're doing better, E," he reminded him. "Are you feeling okay? I mean, if something is wrong, I can take you back upstairs. You just have to tell me, but if this is just you worrying about everything, you can stop right now. You're not doing that for at least another couple weeks."

Another part of Eric's release had been contingent on his not returning to work for at least a full month. Ari had managed to negotiate two more weeks off the set for Vince, after which Turtle would head back up to Newfoundland to finish filming. Drama would stay behind with Eric's mom if he was still needing around-the-clock care. Vince hated the thought of leaving him, even for the week that it would take to wrap up the movie, but he was contractually obligated to see his commitment through. Besides, it would do little for E's stress levels if he knew Vince was flaking out on a movie, especially one that would put millions of dollars in both their pockets.

Eric shook his head and reached up to cover Vince's hand on his shoulder. "I guess I'm just scared."

"What, Eric Murphy is scared?!?" Vince scoffed incredulously. "You've never been scared of anything in your life."

"We both know that's not true." Eric and Vince exchanged a knowing smile. Eric had been scared of the snake they found at summer camp in fourth grade and going to second base with Natalia Rossetti in seventh grade and following Vince to LA and telling his mom that he had broken up with Sloan. There were a lot of things that had scared him but never like this. This actually seemed like it could be life or death for him. "I'm scared that everyone is going to find out and it's going to ruin everything for you. I'm scared th

at I'm going to be your downfall and that your mom is never going to forgive you and my mom is never going to look at me the same way. I'm scared that you're going to think that this is a mistake and end up hating me for falling in love with you. Most of all, though, I'm scared that I'm going to lose you someday because of this."

"Would you stop doing that?" Vince's words were an order and not a question. He came around and knelt by E's side, pretending to fiddle with the break on the wheelchair he would be using until his leg got into a walking cast. "Why do you keep assuming that I could care less, E? That this is going to be a mistake? I was there, too, you know. I see how you look at me and I know how I look at you. That's never going to be a mistake. So what if no one else approves? Fuck them. My career too. You mattered long before anyone else thought I mattered, and you'll go on mattering long after I stop being relevant."

It was something so beautiful, so soulfully honest, that Eric could almost swear that it came from that sappy Drew Barrymore romantic comedy they had passed on last year. However, as Vince leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his temple, Eric knew that those words were all him. "Well, I guess you told me."

"What'd you expect me to say? _Hey, asshole, quit being such a pussy because I fucking love you, alright?_" Vince laughed. "Come on, you've seen me work a room, E. You know how smooth I can be better than anyone."

"Don't pretend that wasn't real, Vin," Eric shook his head but smiling despite himself. "That was all you. You meant every word you said."

"Yeah, I did," Vince agreed, "so do us both a big favor and start believing it. Otherwise, you're getting the pussy speech next time because, man, I don't have to think so much to come up with that shit."

Then Vincent plastered on his best smile and pushed his best friend out of the hospital. The guards helped get Eric into the dark SUV without any incident. Vince brushed away the hungry autograph hounds but did offer a few generic words about how happy he was about Eric's release before crawling into the backseat of the car. A police car was waiting to escort them back to the freeway so that they weren't chased. Turtle kept the speed limit steady and his eyes scanned for anyone who might make a tough situation worse.

Vince felt Eric shivering next to him, not realizing until then how anxious he probably felt about riding in a car. Moving closer to him on the seat, he wrapped his arm around E and held him close to his body. Turtle caught his eye in the rear view mirror and Vince just kind of shrugged. They had agreed to tell the other guys tonight. Eric had wanted to wait, but Vince wanted to be able to take care of E like he needed. He couldn't do that if they had to go on pretending they were just friends.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Eric said, his nervous shivers starting to taper off. He felt surprisingly safe in Vince's arms, as if nothing could touch them as long as they were together. "My mom is waiting at home, right?"

"Yep, she's been working hard with Drama all morning getting things ready for you. We moved you back inside the house so that you wouldn't have to call far for one of us. I put you in the room just down the hall from me so that you have the big bathroom."

Eric laughed as Turtle started to grumble about what it would take for him to get the big suite as Vince muttered something about a blow job and other crass sexual comments. Under ordinary circumstances, E would have brushed it off as Vince being Vince, but now he knew that there was something more to the comment. Like the fact that Vince would probably employ that method at some point to get what he wanted out of E or to give into something E wanted. A sly smile spread over his lips as Vince looked down at him.

"Okay, enough with the weird E-Vince-flirty-eye-conversation thing."

E flipped Turtle off in the rear view mirror but snuggled into the crook of Vince's arm even closer. "Hey, Turtle, so we need to tell you something."

"Uh, yeah, E, I knew a few days ago," Turtle said awkwardly. "It's weird but it's fine, ya know? Look, I know what it's like, and it's fine. Just don't fucking do it in front of me, alright?"

Maybe if they hadn't been friends for more than two decades, they would have needed to have a longer conversation about it, but there was a simple understanding in that moment that only existed between the three of them. While it had always been Vince and Eric, Turtle had always been right there with them. Of course he would find a way to be okay with, even if he wasn't right now. "Thanks, man."

"Yeah," Turtle nodded slightly, looking at E as he stopped at a stop light. It was weird to see Vince all protective like that, shielding Eric as if he could save him from the rest of the world. It also made sense if he thought about it. Small signs had always been there. What kind of guy lets some other dude make all his decisions for him, even if it was his best friend? He had seen the reunion at the airport that first year and knew how sullen Vince got when Eric had went back to LA before Vince had gotten _Gatsby_. He had never been that sprung over anyone, let alone some dude he claimed was just his best friend. Maybe E and Vin had the real thing. "Damn, there's some pap in the trees."

Vince and E rolled their eyes in unison as Turtle turned the Escalade on their street. There was a media circus parked outside their gate. Fans littered on the street as well as other curious onlookers and the prerequisite dozen or so media outlets. Turtle called the house to let them know he was coming in and waiting for Ari to emerge to deal with the mess. The SUV swept fairly easily through the gate and down the half-mile shaded driveway that led up to the palatial beach house Vince had bought in Malibu at the end of last year after _Gatsby _opened to box office and critical success.

The full team of nameless medical professionals sprung into action as soon as Turtle pulled the car to a stop and started to climb out to help get E into the house. Vince was by his side every step of the way, pushing E in the wheelchair and waving off the people he was paying handsomely to be there. E's mom was waiting inside the atrium and fawned over him immediately like the worried mother that she was. Drama called his greeting from the kitchen as the enticing aroma of fresh spinach and grilled rosemary chicken filled the air.

"I think I'd just like to rest before lunch if that's okay," Eric told his mother after she had finally stopped hugging him. His mother told him that it was fine and offered to take him upstairs to help him get settled. "Actually, Ma, I'd like Vin to go with me, if that's okay."

"Uh, yeah, sure, of course," she mumbled before turning on her heel and marching back into the kitchen. Vince looked up at Turtle helplessly, who waved his hand and went after her to smooth things over.

"Want to get me in bed with you already, huh?" Vince teased as he pushed Eric up the hallway and into the suite they'd set up for him. Eric took in the familiar room and felt at home. Vince helped Eric make the awkward transition from his wheelchair to the bed. "What can I get you?"

"Can you just lay here with me?"

Vince couldn't believe how nervous he was just to lay down next to Eric. In addition to the fact that he was afraid he would hurt him if he even moved wrong, Vince had never laid in bed with a man that he felt anything for. There had been the occasional drunken hook-up when no one was looking, but none of those guys mattered even a little bit. They had just been a means to an end, a mind-numbing search for pleasure wherever Vince could find it in the moment. He knew that Eric had never gone there. It was a first for both of them. Vince didn't think he had had a first anything since he was like fourteen.

Eric turned on his left side slightly to take some pressure off his broken leg and coaxed Vince up behind him. The taller man fit around him like a glove, meeting the hard angles of his body in all the right places so that they fit together like a puzzle. "Is this okay?" Vince asked as he rested his hand innocently on Eric's hip. It was so different than spooning a girl but better in a way. "Am I hurting you?"

"You're not going to hurt me, Vin, just fucking relax," Eric muttered as he snuggled into the covers. A sudden image of a naked Vince writhing beneath him on these very sheets flashed in his head. Like that was going to make it easier for him to relax himself. "Christ, I missed sleeping in a real bed."

"Yeah, me too," Vince finally conceded.

Eric jabbed him sharply. "Yeah, well, who fuckin' asked you to stay at the hospital every night?"

"Your stupid ass," Vince shot back. It was easy between them, the banter, just like it had always been. He was afraid they might have lose that when they went to the next level. He was glad that his fear had proven to be unfounded.

Eric chuckled before looking at Vince over his shoulder. "Yeah, well, you want my stupid ass."

"Mmm," Vince hummed in agreement. The doctor had been very specific about how long Eric had to wait before he could have 'relations,' and to be honest, Vince was actually kind of glad. It forced them to take the time to explore their new relationship. He wouldn't be able to just slip into his usual habits and use sex to avoid emotional intimacy. He didn't want to do that with E. He knew that E needed something more. He also wanted to learn the things that Eric wanted, like how he liked to be kissed and the little sounds he made when he was turned on and how he smelled when he woke up. He'd never wanted to learn those things with anyone, except maybe Mandy.

"You sound exhausted."

"Quit worrying about me, E, just go to sleep."

"Only if you promise you'll stay, get some sleep too."

"Your mom is out there. Drama doesn't know yet."

"So?" Eric shrugged tiredly. "I'm recovering. You have to worry about that, remember?"

"Asshole."

"Yup," Eric grinned before bringing Vince's hands up over his heart. Vince could feel the racing drumbeat beneath his flattened palm. Eric was actually nervous to have him close like this. It was adorable and flattering. He'd long known how much people wanted him, but it never really mattered to him. Like everything else, it mattered to him that E wanted him. "Night, Vin."

"Night, E," he whispered before pressing a kiss to the back of his neck.

Vince wasn't sure how long he slept, but the sun was decidedly lower when he opened his eyes again. Dark shadows cast across the room indicated that it was probably well into the afternoon. He could feel that Eric was awake even before he peered over his shoulder. Eric was tracing his finger up and down Vince's forearm aimlessly, sighing contently every once in awhile as he listened to Drama and Turtle argue over some video game in the living room.

"Been awake long?"

"Awhile," Eric replied softly. He turned a little in Vince's arms so that he could see him. Cupping the back of Vince's head, he brought him down easily into a kiss. Leaning over him but careful to keep his weight on his own hands, Vince lost himself in the kiss. The arm that wasn't wrapped in a cast drew Vince even closer to E. When Eric finally pulled away, flushed and breathless and beautiful, Vince licked his lips in proud amusement. "Okay, that was sexy."

Vince started to laugh in embarrassment. "What? Me?"

"When the fuck have you ever played coy?" Eric smiled before pulling Vince back in for another kiss. He broke away sooner this time, leaving Vince with his mouth half open. "Now get out of my bed, I need to piss and I want to eat."

"Nice pillow talk, E," Vince shot off sarcastically before smoothing his shirt back down and heading for the wheelchair. He rolled it over, helped E into it and then pushed him into the bathroom to give him some privacy. A small part of him wondered if he could get used to and actually like taking care of someone. It was nice to be needed. He had always needed E so much, but to have E need him, it was a nice change of pace. When Eric was done, he called for Vince to roll him out so he could wash his hands. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he retorted, plastering an appeased smile on his face for his mother's benefit. His mom looked like she had aged at least five years in the past week when they came into the living room. She was sitting in an armchair near the window, reading the _New York Times_ while Turtle continued to kick Drama's ass at virtual golf. "Hey, Ma."

"Good afternoon, boys," she smiled, folding the newspaper and putting to the side. "Do you want something to eat, Eric?"

"Yeah, man, you have to have some of Drama's manicotti," Turtle said before swinging his club.

"Yeah, bro, it's amazing. I got this new organic sauce from that place down in Hancock Park," Drama said before wincing at Turtle's shot landing on the green. "I even made some of that garlic bread that E liked so much last month. It's in the warmer."

Eric's mom excused herself to make Vince and E two plates. "Hey, guys, we need to, uh, talk to you," Eric managed nervously. This was ridiculous. He was used to negotiating multi-million-dollar contracts, and he could barely find the courage to tell Vince's brother that he was in love with him. "Can you stop the game for a minute?"

"Awww, E, I was just about to sink this putt!" Turtle complained before turning around. He saw the seriousness in Eric's gaze and could avoid it. He couldn't ignore the look in Vince's eyes, though. He put down his club and switched off the television before collapsing into the nearest empty seat.

"Bro, is everything okay? E's not like dying or something, is he?"

"No, I'm not dying or anything," Eric rolled his eyes. "Listen, Johnny, Turtle already knows this, but Vince and I had a talk while I was in the hospital and some things are going to change around here."

Drama's eyes went wide. "Listen, E, I know that I'm still begging for parts and stuff and I probably should be staying over at the condo more, but it's just that this house is so big and Vin has the money and I could pay rent or something," he rattled off in panic.

Vince laughed as he shook his head. "Johnny, it's not that. It's not about you," he reassured his older brother. He looked over at Eric and smiled. Slipping his hand in E's, he looked back at his brother. "It's about us."

"About us?" Drama repeated. "About us?" He sounded confused until he noticed their entwined hands. His eyes were wide as saucers as he jumped up from the couch. "Wait, you and E are like _you and E_?"

Eric hushed Drama and motioned for him to sit back down. "Yeah, something like that."

"Christ, Bro," Johnny murmured. "Turtle, are you hearing this shit?"

"Like E said, man, I already knew," he half-apologized. "Have for awhile."

"I..." Johnny drawled. "I don't know what to say."

Vince nodded understandingly. "We're still trying to figure it out ourselves."

"Who else knows?"

"You two and my mom," E answered. "No one else."

Johnny was about to ask something else when Eric's mom came back into the room. She looked at her son's hand in Vince's uncomfortably before clearing her throat. "Do you want me to bring it in here or do you want to eat in the kitchen?"

"We'll eat in there," Vince answered for both of them. Turtle came over to push E into the dining room, wanting to show his support and solidarity for the whole thing. He had sensed the tension between E and his mom all week and wanted his friend to know that he was behind both of them. It wouldn't make it any easier if he let them know that it was weird for him. They needed his support. "Thanks, Drama, this looks amazing."

Drama puffed out his chest proudly as Eric and Vince hemmed and hawed over the food and showered him with compliments. The easiest way to make Johnny feel comfortable was to remind him how much he was appreciated and needed in their lives. Turtle pulled out a few beers for Vince and the other guys, handing off some of that fancy Italian bottled water that E liked so much over to him. It was almost as if the awkwardness in the living room had never happened, and for a moment, they could pretend that everything was the same.

The conversation soon fell into an easy pattern as Drama and Turtle caught E up on the parties they'd missed and a few of the rumors floating around town. They soon started talking about the old days and old girls and just those things that you could only really talk about with old friends. Eric's mom was quiet but smiled affectionately at the four boys, remembering days when she used to listen to those same conversations at all hours of the night around a much smaller table in a much smaller kitchen in Queens. She caught Vince's eye when he rested his hand on Eric's forearm while retelling a story about some fight they'd had in seventh grade. It was the first time she really saw them as a couple and had to smile. Maybe it could be okay after all.


	6. Chapter 6

And so, for the next week, Eric's mom found more ways to be okay with it and Turtle avoided being alone in a room with just the two of them and Drama finally sat down and talked to his baby brother seriously about getting into a relationship with his best friend. They each found their own way to deal with it while Vince and Eric settled into terms of their own. They would spend time together around the house alone and some just hanging out with the guys. E actually managed to forget about work and Vince entertained him with these small little dates he planned at home for the two of them. They had dinner on the patio alone one night and watched movies in the viewing room together. Just small things that E could do but where Vince could still spend time with him.

They also spent a lot of time making out like two adolescents kissing beneath the bleachers who were afraid to get caught. Eric had moaned happily the first time Vince's hand had wondered below his waistline, and that was just the outside of the flannel pants that Eric had come to live in. Vince hadn't been this sexually frustrated since he was in eighth grade and Karen Peters wouldn't let him put his hand up her dress. Still, he was also happier than he had ever been just kissing someone and having them in his arms.

That blissful happiness was about to come to an end, though, because Shauna and Ari had been summoned along with their assistants to the house today for a full disclosure session. A nurse had come in to help Eric change into actual clothes for the first time in three weeks after his physical therapy session, even if it was just a loose pair of track pants that fit over his cast and an over-sized tee. Vince had all the swagger in the world when he came in E's bedroom in his faded jeans and a black button-up shirt. Vince had perched on the edge of the bed and kissed Eric for a full five minutes after that.

"Yo, E, Ari's here!" Turtle called down the hallway, breaking them out of their private reverie.

Eric muttered something about needing a vacation and cursed Ari a few times before letting go of Vince. "You ready for this, Vin?"

"We got this, E," he promised. Eric managed to roll himself down the hallway to the living room where Shauna and Christy were waiting with Lloyd and Ari. "Hey, guys."

"How you feelin', doll?" Shauna asked as she rose to kiss both E and Vince on the cheeks.

"Hey, Pizza Boy, glad to see you up and at 'em," Ari greeted him. It was about as nice as Ari could manage for Eric, even in front of Vince. "So, why did you call us here, Vinny? Ready to sign that script I sent over last week? Get back to Canada? What's up?"

"Ari, sit down," Vince ordered him evenly. He looked over at Eric nervously, who simply nodded for him to continue. Vince had started this and now he was going to see it through. "So, here's the thing. E and I are together now."

"What the fuck do you mean that you're together?" Shauna screeched as Ari looked at Eric and yelled, "You turned my superstar client fag?"

Vince took it all in stride, laughing it off like Eric knew that he would. E was a little more tense, knowing that Vincent's publicist and agent were looking at him as a manager right now and not a boyfriend. "Alright, lay off, Ari," Vince finally spoke up somewhere near the ten-minute mark of Ari's rant. "I don't pay you your cut to comment on my personal life. This isn't up for negotiation. It isn't some script that I don't know how I feel about. I am in love with him."

"Love?" Turtle and Drama said at the same time as Shauna and Ari.

"Awww!" Lloyd applauded.

"Yeah, I love him, alright," Vince clarified. "Your job is to tell me how you are going to deal with it."

"Vin, Vinny, Vince!" Ari babbled. "You're just twisted over E's little near-death thing. It's just a passing thing. You can't let this cloud your judgment. It'll fuck up your entire career, everything that we've worked for."

"We've worked for?" Eric asked him sharply. "Fuck you, Ari, I've worked for. Vince's worked for. Don't take credit for his career, not in front of me."

"I got him Scorsese, didn't I?

It was Vince's turn to get angry then. "Uh, I think that was because of E, too," he reminded his agent. "In fact, after a year of when I promised to listen to you, E is the one who made _Gatsby _happen. It's like he said in Queens that day when I almost made the stupidest choice of my life, he has busted his ass and gave me everything. Well, it's about time that I give him even the smallest little bit of that back. I don't give a fuck about a career in Hollywood if they're not okay with E and me."

"Vince, honey..."

"No, Shauna, just listen," Vince implored a little more calmly. "You see that guy over there, he has given more to me than anyone I have ever known. More than my family, more than any woman, more than anyone in this sorry city. I just realized how I feel about him, and I'm not going to let anyone fuck that up for us. I've been selfish most of my life. It's about time that someone else started coming first."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Lloyd squealed, earning an evil glare from his boss. "Well, it is!"

"You better get your boy's head back in the game, E."

Eric looked at his mother, who was suddenly very interested in her wedding band. "It's like I said earlier. Fuck you, Ari," he spoke softly before raising his eyes to meet the agent's. "I always make sure Vince gets what he wants. This time he wants me. I can't think of any bigger get than that."

"This is going to ruin your career!"

"I don't care, Ari, I never cared. You know that," Vince shrugged. "As long as Drama and Turtle and that beautiful woman over there can live with it, I'll find a way to get over not having a career. I can do little plays off Broadway, whatever it takes. I'm gonna be with Eric."

"You fucking..."

"Hey, enough!" Eric's mom shouted finally. "Listen, I have sat here and listened to you berate my boys long enough. Can't you see the two of them love each other? You're not going to change that. In fact, you better not even try because I know how hard my boy hits, and he's not going to be in that cast forever."

"Now you got your mom threatening me, Leprechaun?"

"Watch it, Ari, E's mom has a mean left hook," Turtle warned him, remembering that time some punk tried to take her purse on the subway. "She'll take you down with one shot."

"Listen, I think we can work this to our advantage," Shauna attempted again, holding up the notes that Christy had made in a notebook. She started to outline the plan, including which media would be friendly and sympathetic and which ones they needed to steer clear of. She had a time line for notifying the movie about Vince's decision to come out and what other key players would need to know before they went live with the campaign, including his business manager and lawyer. Vince kept looking up at E for approval, who would only nod and listen. "I'd like to delay this until at least after the movie opens."

"No way, I want E with me at the premiere. We're not hiding out that long."

"Vince."

"No, E, I mean it," he argued. "I want you there."

"I'll still be there, just not as your date," he reminded him. "We can make it that long if we need."

"We don't need to hide it, E, what we're doing isn't wrong."

"Well, I have a large population of housewives in the Midwest and a few million religious people in the South who might disagree with you," Ari clucked.

Drama looked at his brother and shrugged. "Fuck 'em, those aren't his target market anyhow."

"Yeah, fuck 'em," Turtle agreed.

"Who asked you?" Ari hollered irritatedly. Vince looked at his agent pointedly, reminding him that while he may be crucial to his career, they were crucial to his life. He could get sent packing any day, but Turtle and Drama were there for the duration just like E was. "Sorry."

"God, I love how scared of you he is," E whispered to Vince, causing them both to laugh. "Listen, Vince and I will work out the details, and we'll let you know, Shauna. She'll let you know, Ari. Until then, no one speaks a word of this. This is Vince's thing. He gets to decide how to deal with it."

"We get to decide," Vince corrected him, just in case there was any question. "Shauna, I'm going to want you to rep Eric too, just in case there is any backlash fallout his direction."

"Vin, I don't need PR."

Ari and Shauna both scoffed at the idea of Eric going without publicity. "Uh, yeah, you do, sweetheart," Shauna said. "You got it, Vince."

Lloyd and Christy helped Ari and Shauna iron out the rest of the details while Drama and Turtle headed down to the beach with Arnold and Eric's mom went upstairs to take a much-needed nap. Eric and Vince managed to escape out to the deck, where the beautiful Pacific Ocean was roaring just a hundred feet from where they sat. Eric managed to get himself out of his wheelchair and into the wicker lounger that conveniently seated two. Vince took the empty space beside him, his arm resting casually behind Eric's back.

"Did you mean what you said in there?"

"Well, of course," Vince answered without thinking. "Wait, what part?"

"About what you said that day in New York"

It had been a long time ago, or at least it felt like it. It was the worst fight they had probably ever had, and after that, Eric had told him pointblank that the next time he fired him, he was walking for good. No one knew that Vince had thrown up behind his mom's house after he'd fought with Eric or that he had called his cell phone seventeen times when he knew that he was flying just so he could hear E's voice. The other guys had been miserable. They hated it when E and Vince fought, it was like their parents arguing. When Ari had shown up in that bar and told Vince that he had gotten the movie because of some desperate but smart moves Eric made, it changed a huge part of their friendship.

"That was probably the worst afternoon of my life," Vince finally said. "You actually left, and I never thought you would leave me. I deserved to have you go, to be left behind. I just never realized what that would actually feel like. I actually prayed on the place ride home that you would forgive me, even just hear me out."

"You know I'd always come back to you, Vince," he reminded him. "Even if I wasn't your manager, I was still going to be your best friend. You told me that if it didn't work out, I was replaceable. I knew the risk when I took it. You couldn't fire me from being your friend, though, I wouldn't have let you."

"And now, when you're more than that?"

"I'm even that more determined to make sure you get what you want," he murmured as he let his head fall on Vince's shoulder. Vince took Eric's hand, still surprised at how big it felt in his. Eric was hard in the places where women were usually soft, musky where they were sweet. He liked the softness and sweetness, but he also liked the raw strength of Eric. "This is a good moment, Vin."

They'd had more than a few of those together, especially in LA, but they weren't like this. They weren't perfection. "Hey, E, I love you."

"Yeah, you said that already."

"Screw you."

"Maybe later if you're nice."

"Ha," Vince laughed humorlessly. "Will you just say it back already?"

"Love you, too," Eric retorted sleepily. "Hey, Vin?"

"Yeah, E?"

"It's gonna be good, right?"

"It's gonna be great, E," he promised. "We're gonna be great."

_**Fin.**_


End file.
